By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Part II In Part I of my blog, “Bruce Dan, MD Blogs About His Cancer Treatment”, and I highlighted areas where Dr. Dan shows humor, strength and resolve. Part II addresses issues that Dr. Dan observes firsthand that affect patient care. Dr. Dan offers his observations and I offer some simple tips to help improve patient care. Dr. Dan is now the “e-Patient” – an empowered and engaged patient…
Read More...The Patient, Square in the Middle of Doctors’ Blind Spot
Guest Post By Alan Greene, MD Participatory Medicine and the e-Patient Right before our eyes there’s a dark hole in what we see. Not only don’t we see some of what’s right in front of our face, but we don’t even notice the gap. Our illusion of a seamless visual world is so strong that scientists used to think that the spot where our optic nerve enters the back of each eye gave us our…
Read More...Make the Most of the 15 Minute Office Visit with Your Doctor
Part 1 By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Kevin Pho, MD, primary care physician in Nashua, N.H., blogs at KevinMD.com, member of USA TODAY’S board of contributors and a guest to the Health in 30® Radio Show, writes about the importance of doctors engaging in social media to communicate with patients. He writes in an op-ed in USA TODAY “Doctors ignore Internet at their own peril” on January 27, 2010: “Raise your hand if you’ve…
Read More...How to Engage Your E-Patients Like a Rock Star
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Part 1 in a series on the e-patient, participatory medicine and health 2.0 There’s no question that today’s patients are savvy. Today’s patients are e-patients. Surrounded by technology, researching health information on the Internet has never been easier. Patients are engaging in communities and social networking sites and the exchange of information between patients has proven invaluable to some, thanks to the Health 2.0 movement. When patients visit their…
Read More...Feeling Completely Worn-Out and Extremely Tired? Find Out What It Could Mean
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Her muscles and joints ached. Her throat was raw and sore and throbbing headaches came on without warning. She felt foggy-headed all the time, and had trouble remembering simple thoughts or following reruns of familiar TV sitcoms. Even though she was bone-tired all the time, she had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. And there was no stamina for everyday tasks, let alone the activities she enjoyed doing with…
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